Why 21st Century India cannot do without AI

Share This On

May 14, 2018 | 2103 Views

One of the first signs of the gap closing between human intelligence and artificial intelligence would be the day when AI beat humans at goal. To beat humans at strategy games by computers let us look at the match between Garry Kasparov and Deep Blue by IBM. Deep Blue beat Garry using a brute-force approach to explore the set of candidate moves. The total sets of positions that are possible in chess is 10^123 the total atoms in the whole universe is just 10^80, to put them into context that difference is larger than the entire age of the universe in nanoseconds go on the other hand has the positional power of 10^360 computers can't even begin to explore this space necessary for brute-force it. Computers have to mimic ingenuity creativity and intelligence to come up with the moves that would be able to work. They need to feel and observe patterns the way humans are able to see.

In 2016 Alphago built by Google beat one of the best mankind to offer. What surprised people was Alphago was not even close. Alphago came up with moves that people who had played the game for decades had never ever seen before. In a couple of years, Alphago has beat someone who had spent their entire life perfecting this game. This dominance is not limited to games though. Today AI follows us everywhere, when you are stocking your girlfriend on facebook it is AI that powers the adds that you see. AI shows you which movie you are likely to watch and knows what songs you prefer even before you know it yourself. It can drive cars better than you do, it can read CT scans better than human do. The rate at which investments in AI is increasing, it is almost certain that almost every jobs that need simple logic or basic hand-eye coordination is likely to be automated.

The products that were designed by people, thousands of miles away for Indians were designed for people like us, they do not have to think about how we use the products, because we were just like them when it comes to the next 700 million Indians who are going to come online, things are going to be very different, the products are going to be very different and the use cases are going to be very different. This is a remarkable opportunity for Indian companies. People like us to step in understand what would provide value and generate a new wave of development in this economy just over the next three-four to four years until 2020, AI is expected to add 12 trillion dollars in global GDP. Some companies, fortunately in India, are already realizing. Reliance Geo is a fantastic example of a long-term data play by creating a subscriber base of 100 million users in very quick time. It does not just control the Gateway to the internet. For these people it has a front-row seat onto which apps these people are using and how they are, using their data. India missed out on the boat and did not get a chance to lead the Industrial Revolution, and it did not get the chance to lead the internet Revolution, we must not miss the chance to lead the artificial intelligence revolution.